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Jessica's Top 40 Countdown
The Jessica's Top 40 Countdown is an Internet radio music and variety show, which counts down the Jessica's Top 40 chart with comedy sketches in between some songs. The show premiered July 23, 2004 on Variety FM 104; the #1 song on the first show was "Pieces Of Me" by Ashlee Simpson. After three years on the air, the show went on an indefinite hiatus after the November 2, 2007 show, and after three failed revival attempts - two in February 2008, one in April 2011 - the show finally began regularly airing again after a comeback show on August 13, 2011. The countdown show aired its final episode March 16, 2013. Recurring segments * UK Chart Rants (2005-13): Rants about the UK chart and midweek chart update. The rant debuted as a way to vent frustration over Duran Duran's "What Happens Tomorrow" missing the top 10 in the UK, and became a popular recurring segment due to the success of novelty songs such as Tony Christie's "Is This The Way To Amarillo" and the Crazy Frog's "Axel F". * Making Kanye Mad (2005-13): A sitcom depicting rapper Kanye West in everyday situations, making fun of his huge ego, controversial statements and overreactions at award shows. * Text-To-Speech Bop (2006-13): Parody of the compilation series of kid-friendly pop covers, Kidz Bop, featuring Speakonia and AT&T text-to-speech engines reciting lyrics to pop songs. * That Break Between #20 And #19 Where I Make Fun Of George Michael (2006-13): A rant against British pop singer George Michael, typically making fun of his musical output or events in his personal life. The segment introduced the nicknames "Mr. Ewwface" to refer to George Michael and "Damn!" to refer to his former band Wham! * Monkeying Around (2007-13): A companion to the George Michael rant, typically aired between #19 and #18, making fun of Prince. Like the George Michael rant, the segment makes fun of Prince's music career and personal life. The sketch's title comes from my nickname for Prince, "Monkeyface". * Evil Song Of The Week (2007-present): Spotlights bad, overrated and/or overplayed music. This feature was added to my weekly personal chart posts due to popular demand following the end of the countdown show. * Things JessieLou Thinks Are Indie (2012-13): A rant segment complaining about random things that annoy me and insult those things as being "indie", making fun of the fact I have used the word "indie" to insult things I don't like. * Good Tori, Bad Tori (2005, 2008, 2013): Sketch in which Tori Amos is ranked against another person named Tori to decide who is a "good Tori", with Tori Amos winning every time. The sketch was originally intended to be a one-off sketch to make fun of flop R&B singer Tori Alamaze, who received minor attention at the time with her song "Don't Cha" (later covered by the Pussycat Dolls, who were also featured on Good Tori, Bad Tori to pay homage to the original segment), but since then pitted Tori Amos against Beverly Hills 90210 actress Tori Spelling, Urapopstar act Tori Carter, Michael Jackson, Tori Amos cover bands, folk singer Tori Sparks, and even Tori Amos herself (twice). The segment was discontinued because there are few famous people named Tori, but was revived for the final show in March 2013. For one time only in 2012, a variation of the segment, Good Lita, Bad Lita, was aired, with Lita Ford named "good Lita" and pro wrestler/punk rocker Amy Dumas, whose stage name is "Lita", named "bad Lita". * Say No To Fungus (2007, 2012, 2013): Series of public service announcements parodying MSN "fungus quotes". It aired from January to September 2007, and was revived for one time only in January 2012 to parody Rihanna's overexposure and again on the final show in March 2013 to (fittingly) parody JessieLou's nicknaming indie pop band Fun. "Fungus". * AT40 Flashback Minute (2007-08): Introduced in March 2007 as a way to regain interest in the countdown show, the segment recaps the American Top 40 Flashback show played by Dayton, Ohio-based radio station WMMX 107.7 the past Saturday morning. The segments usually praised Pat Benatar, Heart and hard rock groups while criticizing Prince, George Michael, Culture Club and "geezers". AT40 Flashback Minute was not brought back for the countdown's 2011 revival because by that time I was no longer listening to AT40 Flashback. * Fake movie trailers: Occasionally, countdown shows have featured fake movie trailers featuring several musicians or other celebrities being matched up in a summer blockbuster-type film. The best known examples are Irrelevant: The Movie (co-starring Ed Sheeran and Fergie) and The Queens (co-starring Pat Benatar, Heart, Lita Ford and Grace Slick). Memorable moments *7/23/04: The countdown gets its first broadcast as the JT25 Countdown on Variety FM 104. *8/13/04: The show goes on despite warnings of Hurricane Charley in my area; every song is broadcasted except for the last three. *9/2/04: Fears of Hurricane Frances leads the show to be broadcast a day early. *9/10/04: Special birthday broadcast. *9/24/04: After multiple delays, an interview with alternative singer Christia Mantzke finally airs. *10/15/04: Show begins five minutes late when DJ Jason’s last song, Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova”, goes into the reserved time. *12/3/04: Countdown extended to 30 positions; Naomi Striemer is interviewed. *12/24/04: Special all-request Christmas countdown. *1/7/05: Show retooled to fit top 40 expansion; final show on Variety FM 104 before a temporary firing. *1/28/05: Show goes for a trial run on TGO Radio without voiceovers; despite the show not fitting the station’s format, the station owner lets me continue the show. *2/4/05: Show returns with voiceovers for the first time since the VFM firing; recurring skit “Good Tori, Bad Tori” debuts, though it was originally intended to be a one-off sketch. *2/11/05: Recurring UK chart rants debut; though a flop for Duran Duran’s single “What Happens Tomorrow” began the tradition, it did not become a weekly feature until Tony Christie’s “Amarillo” dominated. *3/4/05: Memorable intro pleads for iTunes downloaders to buy Green Day’s “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” in an attempt to knock 50 Cent from #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. *3/11/05: Fiona Apple is spotlighted in a “Free Fiona” edition premiering five leaked demos from her Extraordinary Machine CD. *3/18/05: Running low on ideas, “Good Tori, Bad Tori” is retired / Final broadcast on TGO Radio. *3/25/05: First broadcast on the short-lived LouLou Radio 103; the show came after a six-hour grand opening party. *4/1/05: The show airs at the latest time it’s ever aired – 10 P.M. – because I came home from a day trip late due to traffic. *4/15/05: “Good Tori, Bad Tori” comes out of retirement for one week only to make fun of the Pussycat Dolls releasing a remake of Tori Alamaze’s “Don’t Cha”, the song that helped begin the skit / Buffering problems during the show lead LouLou Radio 103 to close. *4/29/05: Show returns to Variety FM 104 thanks to last-minute preparations shortly after being let back on. *6/4/05: Server downtime from the day before leads for the show to air a day late / Memorable moment features a parody of the Crazy Frog, in a clip which is aired eight times during the broadcast to make fun of overkill of the commercials on UK TV. *6/17/05: After DJ Jason airs a voiceover tagged “David J ID” (which was actually Jason saying “I tricked you” to me), the recording plays on this show – in backwards – tagged “Jason eats popcorn with his nose”. *7/1/05: To make fun of a “welcome back” message played on VFM using David J’s voice, one of the parodied sound bites is used in a fake American Idol audition / Luther Vandross’s #3 chart hit “Dance With My Father” played at the closing of the show in his memory after news of his death broke. *7/22/05: Special first anniversary show. *8/5/05: Special M4BCC Members Awards Edition. *9/9/05: Recurring segment “Making Kanye Mad” debuts, following Kanye West’s comments on President Bush at a Hurricane Katrina relief telethon. *11/4/05: 50th countdown show on VFM. *12/9/05: Oasis’s defeat by the Pussycat Dolls on the UK charts made fun of through a “fungus mix” of the #1 intro and a commercial for the Pussycat Dolls. *12/13/05: Show aired three days early due to vacation; featured Friction Powered Bryan and Smarterchild commercials and “A Very Random Christmas”. *2/3/06: “Making Kanye Mad” returns for a Grammy edition that makes fun of his comments about deserving Grammys more than Mariah Carey. *2/17/06: Due to popular demand, “Making Kanye Mad” is retooled from a plain one-line impression to a sitcom. *3/17/06: Adam guest-voices in bits referencing Phil Collins’ upcoming musical and recent breakup. *4/21/06: Kidz Bop parody “Text-To-Speech Bop” first airs. *5/19/06: Adam and I do a DJ switch – he hosts my countdown show, I host his Back When Top 10. *5/26/06: The DJ switch is parodied when I impersonate Sebastian during the whole show. *6/2/06: “That Break Between 20 and 19 Where I Make Fun Of George Michael” debuts. *6/9/06: Prince’s birthday bit airs. *8/25/06: My brother Michael guest hosts while I’m sick with a cold. *9/21/06: Opposite Day show *11/3/06: For 90’s week on Variety FM 104, I air a countdown of my flashback chart that week in 1998. *12/22/06: During the conclusion of my top 100 of 2006 countdown, the “Making Kanye Mad” Christmas episode “Kanye Claus”, featuring cameo appearances from M4BCC members/VFM DJs/personal chart contributors Bryan, Adam, Jason, and John, first airs, and instantly becomes a Christmas classic. *1/5/07: “Say No To Fungus” public service announcements debut / 100th countdown show on VFM. *2/9/07: “Evil Song Of The Week” debuts. *4/6/07: 50th episode of “Making Kanye Mad” *4/27/07: Bryan hosts show at last minute. *7/27/07: Show “guest-hosted” by Kanye West. *8/3/07: Adam and I do another DJ switch – in his time slot, he replaces my regular top 40 countdown with the parody show “Not The Jessica’s Top 40”, a takeoff on “Not The American Top 40”. *8/17/07: First show on CountDOWN Radio, Josh’s new countdown-related programming dominated station replacing Fusion 97, and Jammin’ 95, Jason’s rhythmic/pop station; first show in six months to feature the UK chart rant, which was discontinued due to “the charts being boring” only to be reinstated into the show due to a new series of Elvis re-releases. *8/24/07: The 50 Cent/Kanye West album chart battle parodied in a skit where 50 Cent and Kanye appeared in a presidential-style debate; there were also debate sketches for the two following weeks, including one parodying Ellery (aka Elf), a friend of Josh. *11/2/07: Last show before an indefinite hiatus, including countdown of the show’s top 10 most memorable moments. *2/22/08: First of two new shows, including a one-time return of “Good Tori, Bad Tori”, briefly ends hiatus *7/26/09: "Era In Review Show" airs, chronicling my chart and core artists of the last five years *2010: I return to DJing doing the live hard rock/heavy metal-themed show "The Awesome Show", which would get me back into broadcasting and lead to the return of my countdown show *4/15/11: My chart returns as Jessica's Top 25 and is accompanied by a live countdown, but personal conflicts and a low audience cause the show to be a disaster *8/13/11: The Jessica's Top 25 Countdown returns for a test run in a new timeslot, Saturdays at 6 PM; the first show, featuring all the classic skits (Making Kanye Mad, Text To Speech Bop, the UK chart rants, George Michael and Prince rants), is a major success, earning my best audience since 2005 *1/14/12: One of the most memorable "Evil Song of the Week" segments, a rant about Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know", airs for the first time, which quickly became a classic segment for introducing the nickname "Got Ya" *2/4/12: Show guest hosted by "Kim Kardashian" and a random indie whore *3/31/12: First new recurring skit since 2007, "Things JessieLou Thinks Are Indie", debuts *6/2/12: First airing of "Making Kanye Mad" episode "Kanye Bop", a crossover with Text To Speech Bop in which Kanye gets mad about a Kanye West-themed edition of the series *6/16/12: 100th episode of "Making Kanye Mad" airs *9/22/12: Second Opposite Day show *10/27/12: David Monger, creator of "The Nekci Menij Show", becomes the first YouTube celebrity to make a guest appearance on the show, with two of his characters making a cameo in a Text To Speech Bop segment *3/16/13: Final countdown show airs *6/30/13: Second part of a two-part 10-year retrospective commemorating the chart's 10-year anniversary features, among other new segments, David J providing the introduction to Alanis Morissette's "Eight Easy Steps" Top 20 greatest moments JT40 Magazine did a feature story after the final show looking back at the top 20 greatest moments of the show. # Making Kanye Mad episode "Kanye Claus" (December 2006) # Text-To-Speech Bop (2006-13, all segments placed in a joint second) # Prince's birthday rant (June 2006) # Christia Mantzke (September 2004) and Naomi Striemer (December 2004) interviews # Adam Soybel guest hosts (May 2006) # Comeback show (August 2011) # Evil Song Of The Week on Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" (January 2012) # Crazy Frog commercial (June 2005) # UK Chart Rant featuring George Michael (July 2006) # Opposite Day specials (September 2006 and September 2012) # Rants about "Irrelevant" Ed Sheeran (2012) # Things JessieLou Thinks Are Indie on Jim Morrison (September 2012) # Monkeying Around on Prince perfume ("3121 This, 3121 That") (May 2007) # "Sebastian Prospero" guest hosts (May 2006) # Farewell show (March 2013) # The debut show (July 2004) # Evil Song Of The Week on The Killers' "Runaways" (July 2012) # Evil Song Of The Week on David Guetta's career (October 2012) # JessieLou finally gets David J ID (October 2006) # Rihanna: The Unapologetic Edition commercial (featuring Chris Brown testimonial "I'm Chris Brown and I'm angry") (December 2012)